Always Here
by pull harder
Summary: Sakura is... sulking? Everyone gets worried about the pink-haired girl. Especially Neji. Why's that? NejiSaku & ShikaIno... one-shot!


This is my first fanfic I've ever written so please go easy on me! Uhm… yeah. This will be NejiSaku. Truthfully, I would like to have ShikaIno to be my first fic but sacrifices must be made! …I think it's a little bit of both. Enjoy…! Oh yeah… It's kinda' OOC… mostly, I think. I hope not…

Summary: Sakura is… sulking? Everyone gets worried about the pink-haired girl. Especially Neji. Why's that? NejiSaku & ShikaIno… one-shot!

Warning: Neji is kinda' OOC near the ending. PG13… just in case! As you know, this is my first fic so don't expect it to be nice and all. Please don't flame me!

Always Here 'Why is life so cruel to me! This isn't fair…' 

Sakura had a hard day. First, her parents had not come home for months then she finds out from the Hokage that they were dead. After that, Kakashi-sensei was late for four hours. After **_that_**, she lost to Naruto in a training match. And **_after that_**, Sasuke _rejected_ her again.

'_Things just get better and better… What's next? Konoha will sink to the bottom of the ocean!' _she thought sarcastically.

"Hey forehead girl!" a certain blonde kunoichi called, waving at her from outside the Yamanaka's flower shop.

Sakura glanced at the girl and looked down again. _'Ino… better avoid her. I don't want another headache…' _She passed by Ino without acknowledging her.

"Fore-… S-Sakura? What's wrong?" Ino asked when Sakura didn't notice her. She grabbed the pink-haired girl's arm. "Sakura?"

"Leave me alone or else." Sakura hissed in a dangerous tone.

The blonde loosened her hold on the other girl.

Taking advantage of this situation, Sakura left.

'_Sakura…'_ Ino gazed worriedly at the retreating back of her friend. _'Why are you like this?' _She went inside the shop silently.

The door to the flower shop opened. "Oi Ino! What's up?" Shikamaru called as he entered. He stopped when he saw his blonde girlfriend deep in thought. They were sixteen now and they had been together for a month. "Ino?" he waved a hand in front of her face.

She snapped out of her daze. "Huh? Ah… hi Shikamaru!" she greeted brightly. She led Shikamaru outside.

He nodded at her. "What's going on?"

"What're you talking about?"

"You were deep in thought or something."

"Oh, that… nothing." She answered too quickly.

He looked at her disbelievingly. Usually, he would have just shrugged at her answer and let it go, but this is Ino! "Riiiight. Come on, Ino! You know you can't hide anything from me."

Ino sighed. "Okay, okay!" She said, defeated. "Sakura stopped by."

He raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"She looked a little bit depressed. I was asking her what was the matter and she even threatened me."

"Wait a minute. Sakura? _The_ Haruno Sakura threatened you? Whoa! Something's just not right!"

"Yeah. It's not everyday that you see Sakura like that…"

Shikamaru shook his head. "Let's just get her out of our minds for a while, okay? Why don't we go to Ichiraku?"

Ino nodded. She told her mom that she was leaving and they walked off. When they got there, they spotted Naruto eating surrounded by three empty bowls. They sat beside him.

"Hey guys!" Naruto greeted them.

"Naruto, did you notice anything the matter with Sakura?" Ino asked him.

He nodded because his mouth was full. He gulped. "She was a little bit distracted during our match. I don't know why though. And I overheard her talk with Sasuke. She asked him out on another date and he refused again. That bastard!" he brought his fist down on the table.

Ino winced. _'Poor Sakura.'_

"Cool it Naruto." Shikamaru said and looked at Ino. "Should we order?"

She nodded.

Naruto brightened up at the word _'order'_. "I recommend miso ramen. It's good!"

Shikamaru shrugged and went off to the counter.

"So Naruto… what's going on between you and Hinata lately?" Ino asked, grinning.

He blushed. "N-nothing…"

"Alright. If you say so!"

At that moment, Shikamaru came back carrying two bowls of ramen.

Unknown to them was that a pair of eyes watched them since they were at the flower shop and heard every detail of their conversation. He went out off the place and looked for his _'target'._ He walked around the place and saw a flash of pink ahead of him. He smirked.

'_This is weird.'_ He thought as he caught up with the figure. He held her arm.

"Hey!" she complained and turned around. She stood there, shocked. "N-Neji!"

He smirked. "People were talking about you."

"And so they were. I can see why." She frowned. _'Stupid Ino!'_

"Anything the matter?"

"No. You don't care." She stated bluntly.

He raised an eyebrow. "Don't I?"

She looked at him weirdly. "No you don't! All this time, you treated me like shit! I hate you!" she made to run but Neji still held on to her arm. Without warning, he carried her to his arms and ran to the forest. "What are you doing! Let me go!" she cried.

"Shut up." He said in a calm yet deadly voice.

She heeded and just closed her eyes. _'I hope he puts me down! I hope he puts me down!'_

"No, I will not put you down." He stated.

She gaped at him, surprise evident in her eyes. "H-how-!"

'_Damn!'_ he cursed when he felt a branch collide with his side.

"Are you alright?"

"Never better," he answered sarcastically.

She pouted. "Fine!"

He couldn't help but smile _(smirk)_. She looked so cute. He saw a small spring in the distance. When he got there, he put Sakura down.

"Why did you bring me here?" she questioned him, hands on her hips.

"We were making a scene."

She snorted. "Like I care!"

He sighed and sat down beside the spring. "You can go if you like."

Her face softened. "Neji-kun…"

"Don't call me that!" he told her coldly.

She sat across him. "Are you mad at me?"

He smirked. "Is it that obvious?" he said sarcastically.

"Fine! Neji?"

"Hn?"

"Do you think Sasuke-kun would ever like me?"

He stiffened.

Sakura noticed this. "What's wrong?"

Neji's face contorted with anger. "Dammit Sakura! Why is everything about Sasuke!"

"N-Neji…"

"I'm right here! I'm always right here!"

"…"

"Why can't you accept me, Sakura? Why? It's always Sasuke that's been the center of attention! I'm always beside you. I was just waiting for you to call me…"

"B-But you never a-acted l-like-"

"That's it! I acted that way because I was trying to impress you!" (_A/N. Sorry…_)

"I didn't know… I'm sorry Neji. I didn't know…" Tears started to flow down from her face.

"Am I not good enough!"

"Neji please stop…" she said weakly. "Let me talk."

He avoided her gaze and nodded. "Go."

"I've b-been thinking… Sasuke would never notice me. I knew that so I planned to give up on him. I never really thought of falling for someone else… until now. Neji… I l-love you."

His eyes widened in surprise. He hadn't seen this coming.

"I was just blinded by my childishness that I never really see what was in front of me. I'm sorry…" She hugged her knees and buried her head in them.

"Sakura, look at me." Neji said.

She looked up and saw that his face was close to hers. He cupped her chin with one hand and slowly leaned in. Their lips locked into a passionate kiss. They separated a while later, both trying to catch their breath.

"So… are you still going to run after Uchiha?" Neji liked at her straight in the eyes.

She shook her head. "Whatever for? I found someone better."

"Good."

Ugh! Mushy ending! I didn't know I had that in me! That is just so… cool! I hope you enjoyed. REVIEW PLEASE!

Sorry if it's a little OOC…

Review! I have a next story coming up. I hope you like it better than this one… or the other way around. Either way, that only means you like both! Thank you!


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